8B3- The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - January 13, 1997
'M' grapplers suffer tough loss,
fall to No. 4 Penn State at Keen
By Evan Braunstein
DaiLy ports Writer
With six teams ranked in the top 10
in the nation, the Big Ten conference
has some of the toughest competition
in collegiate wrestling.
The Wolverines found out just how
tough this competition can be in a close
loss to No. 4 Penn State yesterday.
The seventh-ranked Wolverines (3-
1) were hoping to start their conference
play with a victory as the Nittany Lions
(4-1) came to Cliff Keen Arena. The
meet - looked bleak early for the
Wolverines as they dropped their first
three. matches and were staring at a 10-
0 deficit.
Penn State's Jeremy Hunter broke
Michigan's spirit with a 5-4 win over
Chis Viola in the 118-pound weight
class. Viola grabbed a 4-1 lead after the
firs period, but Hunter stormed back
with four unanswered points, clinching
the- match in its final seconds.
Michigan coach Dale Bahr felt this
mach was key in Penn State's victory.
iThe) 118 (weight class) was one of
thenatches we needed to win,' Bahr
sajd "We were up 4-1 and we needed
topat it away. That (loss) kind of got us
offn the wrong foot:'
After freshman Matt Warner fell in
the next bout, the Wolverines lost
another close match in the 134-pound
we ht class. Corey Grant lost 2-1 in
sutlden-death overtime to Penn State's
BilfWalizer. After wrestling to a 1-1 tie
at the end of regulation, both grapplers
failed to score in the first overtime
peritd. Walizer managed an escape to
break the tie in the second overtime
petidd.@
Michigan finally got on the board in
the 142-pound weight class as Teya
Hill earned a major decision in his sec-
ond match of the year. Hill was up 4-2
before getting a headlock on his oppo-
nent and nearly pinning him.
"I was setting him up for it," Hill
said. "Every time I shot, he would
shoot higher, so I knew it was coming."
Bahr was impressed with Hill's per-
formance.
"Teya was injured last year, and I
keep telling everybody that if we ever
get this kid to the mat - he's a killer,"
Bahr said. "Teya just destroyed (his
opponent)."
The Wolverines tied the score at 10
as Bill Lacure won his match by
default before Otto Olson gave
Michigan its first lead with a 3-2 deci-
sion over Brian Romesburg.
The following match pitted two of
the top wrestlers in the nation against
each other as second-ranked Jeff
Catrabone took fifth-ranked Glenn
Pritzlaff of Penn State. Pritzlaff handed
Catrabone his only career dual-meet
loss two years ago in a 3-2 decision.
The undefeated grapplers were at a
stalemate until Catrabone escaped in
the second period. Catrabone held the
lead into the third period but gave up a
reversal and the victory to Pritzlaff late
in the match.
"Catrabone's strength is in the top
position and it's unusual for him to get
beat by a reversal." Bahr said. "He was
riding pretty solid up to that point, but
he got a little high."
With the score tied at 13, freshman
Joe DeGain was handled by Frank
Morcini for a major decision and a
four-point Penn State lead. The
Wolverines needed 190-pound Frank
Lodeserto to win his match if they
were to have a chance at beating the
Lions.
Lodeserto took a 4-3 lead after the
first period, scoring on a takedown and
an escape. He was awarded an addi-
tional point after an unnecessary
roughness call by the referee. Yet
Lodeserto was unable to hold on as
Penn State's Rob Neidlinger scored
three quick points on his way to an 8-6
victory.
Although this clinched the match for
the Lions, the feature match was still to
come. Heavyweight Airron
Richardson, ranked fifth in the country,
took on the top-ranked wrestler in the
nation, Kerry McCoy.
Richardson wrestled the match of his
life as he jumped out to an early 2-0
lead with a takedown. McCoy scored
two escapes to tie the match before the
end of regulation to send it into sudden
death.
As the overtime period went score-
less, the match went on to a 30-second
tie breaker. Richardson won the toss
and chose the down position. He was
unable to escape, giving the match to
McCoy.
"Part of me is happy because I
gained some confidence that I can
wrestle with the best wrestlers in the
country," Richardson said. "But part of
me is disappointed, because I had the
chance to put away the match several
times."
The loss brought the final score of
the meet to 23-13 in favor of Penn
State.
A day earlier the Wolverines
improved their record to 3-0 with a 22-
15 defeat of Central Michigan. The
Wolverines fell behind early in that
match but rallied behind Lacure and
Richardson to get the victory.
JEANNIE SERVAAS/Da it
i
Otto Olson and the Michigan wrestling team lost to Penn State, 23-13, yesterday at Cliff Keen Arena.
Richardson challenges nation's
.
best, sending match to double OT
By Tracy Sandler
Daily Sports Writer
In Sunday's 20-13 loss to No. 4 Penn
State, Michigan's Airron Richardson,
the fifth-ranked wrestler in the coun-
try, took the country's No. I -ranked
wrestler, the Nittany Lions' Kerry
McCoy, to a double-
overtime match.
Michigan coach
Dale Bahr was
happy with
Richardson's per-
formance, despite
the loss.
"I thought Airron
did a great job at
heavyweight," Bahr
72ate c a
because on one hand, he is the No. I -
ranked wrestler, and I hung with him,
put him in overtime," Richardson said.
"But anytime you lose, you're going to
look back and analyze every point in
the match. It could have gone either
way."
BATTLE OF THE UNBEATEN:
Michigan's Jeff Catrabone, the No. 2-
ranked wrestler in the country, was
looking to beat the only person to ever
defeat him in a dual meet, Glenn
Pritzlaff, the nation's fifth-ranked
wrestler.
Both wrestlers were undefeated
coming into the match, but Catrabone
lost a hard-fought battle, 2-1.
"(The match at 167 had) two great
athletes," Bahr said. "You've got two
undefeated wrestlers wrestling. What's
unusual in that match is Catrabone's
usually good in the top position; that's
his strength, top to bottom. If anything
Cat will give one (point) up, not two
(points). In essence, Catrabone got
beat at his best position, which is
unusual."
OPERATION REDSHIRT: The
Wolverines have decided to operate on
freshman Damian Logan's shoulder on
Jan. 22, which will cause him to miss
the remainder of the season.
"We're doing it, because number
one, his shoulder's popping, and it's in
That was
probably as good
a heavyweight
match (as) you're*
going to see this
year,"
- Dale Bahr,
Michigan wrestling coach
his best interest, and, two, he can still
get redshirt year, because it's early
enough in the year that he got injured,"
Bahr said. "So, we're going to redshirt
him and have four full seasons."
Two WRESTLERS AND COACH HON-
ORED: Michigan's Catrabone and Bill
Lacure, the country's No. 3-ranked"
wrestler, will participate in the
National Wrestling Coaches-
Association All-Star Classic on Feb. 3
at Clarion University. Bahr will also be
at the Classic:as an honorary coach.
The best wrestlers at each of the".
weight classes will compete with a
dual-meet format.
said. "Airron gave him everything he
wanted. All he needed to do was score
on one of those takedowns."
As far as the match itself, Bahr was
impressed with the caliber of wrestling
from both Richardson and McCoy.
"That was a great match," Bahr said.
"That was probably as good a heavy-
weight match (as) you're going to see
in the country this year. You had two
great athletes going at it."
As much as he wanted to win,
Richardson felt like the match gave
him some added assurance in his abil-
ity against the country's elite wrestlers.
"It's sort of a double-edge sword,
U I
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